﻿OTTEK-TEAWL 
  FISHERY. 
  55 
  

  

  be 
  higher 
  than 
  they 
  are 
  if 
  the 
  former 
  standard 
  had 
  been 
  main- 
  

   tained. 
  

  

  To 
  summarize, 
  while 
  the 
  otter 
  trawl 
  in 
  England 
  and 
  Wales 
  re- 
  

   duced 
  the 
  cost 
  of 
  production 
  of 
  fish 
  for 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  years 
  after 
  

   it 
  became 
  the 
  predominant 
  method 
  of 
  fishing, 
  it 
  did 
  this 
  to 
  some 
  

   extent 
  by 
  reducing 
  the 
  standard 
  of 
  sizes, 
  and 
  within 
  the 
  last 
  two 
  

   years 
  prices 
  have 
  increased 
  rapidly 
  until 
  they 
  are 
  higher 
  than 
  ever. 
  

   To 
  what 
  extent 
  the 
  general 
  increase 
  in 
  commodity 
  prices 
  has 
  been 
  

   responsible 
  can 
  not 
  be 
  determined. 
  

  

  It 
  may 
  be 
  noted 
  that 
  the 
  increase 
  in 
  the 
  price 
  of 
  fish 
  in 
  1912 
  

   and 
  1913 
  occurred 
  in 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  the 
  heaviest 
  fisheries 
  that 
  Great 
  

   Britain 
  has 
  ever 
  known, 
  in 
  which, 
  however, 
  the 
  species 
  taken 
  in 
  

   the 
  trawl 
  fishery 
  did 
  not 
  participate. 
  

  

  INST7FFICIENCT 
  OF 
  DATA. 
  

  

  While 
  certain 
  provisional 
  deductions 
  are 
  drawn 
  from 
  the 
  pre- 
  

   ceding 
  analysis, 
  the 
  data 
  are 
  not 
  regarded 
  as 
  sufficient 
  to 
  warrant 
  

   an 
  opinion 
  respecting 
  the 
  effects 
  of 
  steam 
  trawling 
  on 
  the 
  fisheries. 
  

   The 
  period 
  during 
  which 
  the 
  American 
  trawlers 
  have 
  operated 
  has 
  

   been 
  too 
  short, 
  the 
  trawlers 
  engaged 
  have 
  been 
  too 
  few, 
  and 
  their 
  

   catch, 
  relatively 
  to 
  the 
  catch 
  by 
  liners 
  fishing 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  banks, 
  

   has 
  been 
  too 
  small 
  to 
  make 
  it 
  probable 
  that 
  they 
  could 
  have 
  shown 
  

   any 
  drastic 
  effect. 
  Such 
  fluctuations 
  as 
  have 
  occurred 
  during 
  the 
  

   time 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  merely 
  the 
  periodical 
  changes 
  common 
  to 
  all 
  

   fisheries. 
  For 
  this 
  reason 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  necessary 
  to 
  consider 
  what 
  is 
  

   known 
  of 
  the 
  fisery 
  in 
  the 
  North 
  Sea, 
  the 
  region 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  has 
  

   reached 
  its 
  greatest 
  development, 
  and 
  where 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  prosecuted 
  

   for 
  the 
  longest 
  time. 
  The 
  only 
  data 
  for 
  a 
  sufficiently 
  long 
  period 
  

   available 
  to 
  the 
  committee 
  considering 
  the 
  subject 
  are 
  those 
  con- 
  

   tained 
  in 
  the 
  Annual 
  Reports 
  on 
  Sea 
  Fisheries 
  of 
  England 
  and 
  

   Wales 
  and 
  the 
  Annual 
  Reports 
  of 
  the 
  Fishery 
  Board 
  for 
  Scotland. 
  

   These 
  two 
  countries 
  have 
  four-fifths 
  of 
  the 
  North 
  Sea 
  trawlers, 
  

   catch 
  over 
  two-thirds 
  of 
  all 
  fishes 
  taken 
  in 
  the 
  North 
  Sea 
  and 
  over 
  

   three-fourths 
  of 
  all 
  demersal 
  fishes 
  landed 
  from 
  that 
  region, 
  and, 
  

   therefore, 
  if 
  an 
  analysis 
  of 
  the 
  statistics 
  develops 
  any 
  pronounced 
  

   facts, 
  they 
  can 
  be 
  assumed, 
  with 
  some 
  safety, 
  to 
  be 
  applicable 
  to 
  

   the 
  North 
  Sea 
  fisheries 
  as 
  a 
  whole. 
  

  

  The 
  statistical 
  publications 
  of 
  The 
  Permanent 
  International 
  Coun- 
  

   cil 
  for 
  the 
  Exploration 
  of 
  the 
  Sea 
  contain 
  interesting 
  detailed 
  infor- 
  

   mation 
  respecting 
  other 
  countries 
  in 
  recent 
  years, 
  but 
  as 
  this 
  can 
  

   not 
  well 
  be 
  correlated 
  with 
  the 
  data 
  from 
  earlier 
  periods 
  it 
  has 
  not 
  

   been 
  used. 
  Unfortunately, 
  the 
  same 
  difficulty 
  has 
  been 
  encountered 
  

   in 
  a 
  measure 
  in 
  dealing 
  with 
  the 
  English 
  and 
  Scotch 
  statistics. 
  The 
  

   forms 
  of 
  the 
  tables, 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  the 
  data 
  which 
  they 
  contain, 
  

   the 
  classification 
  of 
  the 
  fishes, 
  and 
  the 
  detail 
  and 
  particularity 
  of 
  the 
  

   data 
  have 
  been 
  changed 
  from 
  time 
  to 
  time. 
  This 
  has 
  not 
  only 
  

  

  